The U.S. military services are finding the procurement of unmanned systems particularly challenging because of problems defining requirements and developing software, according to the Defense Science Board (DSB)....More

In Brief

MOVING MARINES: Oshkosh Defense recently received a contract worth about $67 million to deliver more than 260 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements (MTVR) to the U.S. Marine Corps. MTVR variants being produced under this order include the MK25 Cargo and MK27 and MK28 Extended Cargo trucks. Production will begin in April 2013 and be completed in September 2014....More

Honeywell has signed a $735 million contract to supply F124-GA-200 turbofan engines for Israel’s new fleet of 30 Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainers.
Israel’s purchase of the F124-powered M-346 comes as defense departments in numerous countries including the U.S. are evaluating new training platforms to simulate the latest fighter aircraft such as the F-22, F-35, Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale....More

Australia is stretching out the construction of three air defense destroyers, aiming to preserve skills without adding to the cost of the Navantia-designed, Hobart-class ships.
The first of the Aegis-equipped ships, HMAS Hobart, is now due for delivery in March 2016, 16 months after the previous target and nine years after construction contracts were signed. The Royal Australian Navy should receive HMAS Brisbane by September 2017 and HMAS Sydney in March 2019, Defense Minister Stephen Smith says....More

NEW DELHI­­­ – India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and French aerospace and electronics firm Thales are joining forces to make civilian and military radars.
Both BEL and Thales have approved the formation of a joint venture company (JVC), subject to statutory approval by the governments of India and France....More

NASA’s Dawn probe broke free of the pull of gravity from the asteroid Vesta early Sept. 5 and re-entered orbit around the Sun as its low-thrust xenon-ion propulsion system moves it on to the dwarf planet Ceres.
With the change in orbit, which came at 2:26 a.m. EDT, Dawn started a transit through the Asteroid Belt that will take it to Ceres early in 2015. The spacecraft entered orbit around Vesta — exceeded in mass within the main belt only by Ceres — in July 2011, and spent 13 months studying the giant asteroid....More

Business

FRANKFURT — EADS has added two Airbus managers – Chief Operating Officer Günther Butschek and Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy – to the company’s executive committee.
The appointments represent further integration of Airbus and its parent company, although fully merging the two entities is not foreseen....More

Business

FRANKFURT — EADS has added two Airbus managers – Chief Operating Officer Günther Butschek and Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy – to the company’s executive committee.
The appointments represent further integration of Airbus and its parent company, although fully merging the two entities is not foreseen....More

The U.S. military services are finding the procurement of unmanned systems particularly challenging because of problems defining requirements and developing software, according to the Defense Science Board (DSB)....More

In Brief

MOVING MARINES: Oshkosh Defense recently received a contract worth about $67 million to deliver more than 260 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements (MTVR) to the U.S. Marine Corps. MTVR variants being produced under this order include the MK25 Cargo and MK27 and MK28 Extended Cargo trucks. Production will begin in April 2013 and be completed in September 2014....More

Programs

Australia is stretching out the construction of three air defense destroyers, aiming to preserve skills without adding to the cost of the Navantia-designed, Hobart-class ships.
The first of the Aegis-equipped ships, HMAS Hobart, is now due for delivery in March 2016, 16 months after the previous target and nine years after construction contracts were signed. The Royal Australian Navy should receive HMAS Brisbane by September 2017 and HMAS Sydney in March 2019, Defense Minister Stephen Smith says....More

NASA’s Dawn probe broke free of the pull of gravity from the asteroid Vesta early Sept. 5 and re-entered orbit around the Sun as its low-thrust xenon-ion propulsion system moves it on to the dwarf planet Ceres.
With the change in orbit, which came at 2:26 a.m. EDT, Dawn started a transit through the Asteroid Belt that will take it to Ceres early in 2015. The spacecraft entered orbit around Vesta — exceeded in mass within the main belt only by Ceres — in July 2011, and spent 13 months studying the giant asteroid....More

Honeywell has signed a $735 million contract to supply F124-GA-200 turbofan engines for Israel’s new fleet of 30 Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainers.
Israel’s purchase of the F124-powered M-346 comes as defense departments in numerous countries including the U.S. are evaluating new training platforms to simulate the latest fighter aircraft such as the F-22, F-35, Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale....More

NEW DELHI­­­ – India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and French aerospace and electronics firm Thales are joining forces to make civilian and military radars.
Both BEL and Thales have approved the formation of a joint venture company (JVC), subject to statutory approval by the governments of India and France....More